Thursday, October 1, 2026
Coach Elissa DiSalvo didn’t exactly have a royal flush in-hand with the Massapequa boys’ volleyball roster this year: a good chunk of the 2023 team graduated, multiple positions needed to be changed and the influx of new players meant they had to be brought up to speed.
It was only a matter of time before the Chiefs starting jelling together, with practices or games Monday-Saturday, followed by Sunday brunches. It was all by design, because DiSalvo knew that chemistry would be make or break.
It all paid off Nov. 12 when Massapequa defeated pesky East Meadow in four sets to capture the Nassau County Division I title at Wantagh High School.
“These are the people you battle with, they’re like your sibling, this is your brotherhood,” she explained. “I tell them that all the time, that this team atmosphere is what you make of it.”
It translated onto the court in no time, as she watched her front line talk before and after practices, building that chemistry and success.
“They talk amongst themselves a lot, they watch film a lot because they want to be successful,” she said. “[Logan Coady] he’s my outside hitter one, and my OH2 is a sophomore so they’ll talk a lot.”
Coady, a junior and typically a setter, has been a silent leader on the team, according to DiSalvo. To her, he embodies the spirit that everybody has: going above and beyond for the team.
“He’s not one of those overly boisterous players, his game kind of just speaks for himself. his level of play and style of play that allows other to rise to the occasion,” she explained.
There’s plenty of examples of players that have had to take on new roles – while most coaches use that as a euphemism for underclassmen learning to be locker room leaders, this was literal as most of the roster went through position changes. The common thread is that they all took it in stride because they all wanted the bring home the hardware after last year’s quarterfinal exit.
“When the conversations came up of ‘okay well actually we think we’re going to start you here in this position’ or ‘we actually think you’re better for the team in this position,’ we never once got any pushback, any questions, it was ‘whatever you need’ so we could get to our end goal.”
An example is senior captain Matt Pettis, who prior to being a middle, was an opposite hitter, but aced the challenge regardless.
“[Pettis] is such a baller, he has this dog mentality that nobody is going to be better than him and he is going to do everything he can to be the best at his position,” DiSalvo said.
There’s also Andrew DiOrio, who went from libero last year to defensive specialist this season, while Brian Jarski made the opposite journey, defensive specialist to libero. While they adjusted their game, the team integrity didn’t suffer.
“It’s been very seamless; it was a very easy transition for us as far as changing positions for the betterment of the team,” she said. “with all the changes we made, everyone of their attitudes was just, honestly, ‘whatever you need.’ The only thing they ever talked about was ‘am I in the right position for this position on the court?’”
With that, the county title was that much sweeter, especially to Matt Pettis.
“The county championship game was definitely the biggest game I’ve ever played in and it meant so much to me as well as the whole team,” he said. “This was our get back game. I’m pleased with the outcome of the game but we have to keep working because we’re not done yet.”
